


Live Like We're Dying

by hundredsunny



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Alternate Universe, JUST GUYS BEIN DUDES, Modern AU, regularly scheduled angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-28 16:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11421774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hundredsunny/pseuds/hundredsunny
Summary: Trapped and troubled twenty year-old Sabo finally manages to leave the trouble of his hometown thanks to a job offer from Baltigo Enterprise, located in a city hundreds of miles away from home. In the process of starting his new life, Sabo reunites with the only friends he ever had as a child, Ace and Luffy. During his stay with them, they teach him what it's like to truly live one's life to the fullest.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> God, I just love these three. That's all. Tune in for more notes at the bottom.

Sabo glanced down at the small piece of paper he held before him. An address was sloppily scribbled in blue ink, and Sabo found himself quadruple-checking the individual numbers just to be completely sure that he didn't misread his own writing. 

On the door in front of him, the number was 1000. On the paper he held in his hands, the number was 1000. 

Sabo knew it was completely unnecessary to keep hesitating. It was such a simple number for anyone to read, but the arms of anxiety pulling at the strings of Sabo's mind made him all the more hesitant. He should have expected all of this worry, though--he just left the home he had lived in for twenty years and was now facing a brand new world filled with the unknown. The unfamiliar sights, scents, and sounds caused a knot to form in the pit of his stomach, but at the same time, he was thankful to be anywhere but his hometown. He brought his blue eyes back to focus on the paper. 

_Are those three zeros or is it two zeros and the letter "o"? Sabo, why would a letter be in a house numbe-is that a one on the paper or did I just doodle a line that looks eerily similar to a one? Shit._

He looked back up at the door and swallowed hard. He was irritated with himself. He knew damn well this was the house, and he knew damn well that the residents were expecting him. The knot in his stomach pulled tighter. Sabo wanted to hop back in his car and drive all the way back home. He knew that would be a god-awful decision. 

_But...what if they open the door and decide that they don't want me to stay with them anymore?_

Sabo shook his head as his inner voice continued to speak. "No, no, they're not gonna do that, I mean, it's Luffy and Ace, for God's sake."

Pushing his thoughts far aside, Sabo raised his arm to knock. He felt cold. 

"What are me and Luffy not gonna do?" 

Sabo flinched at the sudden voice and spun around, meeting the amused, gray gaze of a young man. A large grin took over his familiar freckled face and his arms were crossed over his broad chest. 

_Broad._

Now that was a trait that Sabo never expected to be associated with Ace. He had always seen Ace as a twig, but here he was, standing before him, looking nowhere close to a twig. If it weren't for the freckles, Sabo probably would've thought that this was a stranger standing in front of him. 

The knot in his stomach completely vanished, a huge wave of relief crashing over Sabo. He opened his mouth to attempt a greeting, but all that exited was an astonished huff at first. 

"I-Ace, _Jesus_ , I almost didn't recognize you!" Sabo exclaimed as he finally managed to construct a proper sentence. 

Ace tipped his head and cocked a brow. "Really? I thought you'd remember my beautiful face after all these years." He gestured to his face. "I'm disappointed."

Sabo scoffed. "Yeah, well, I was just expecting your _body_ to still look like an uncooked piece of spaghetti. You were a frail-looking kid, you know." 

Ace laughed, shaking his head. "An uncooked piece of spaghetti? This banter is exactly like the old days. I almost didn't recognize _you_ , Sabo. You're all tall, you got this princely hair look going on, and you don't have that damned gap in your teeth anymore." 

"I wasn't about to walk around looking like a ten year-old forever," Sabo responded in a less interested voice than he intended. He was focused on bracing himself for the next comment, which he assumed would be directed towards the gruesome burn scar over his left eye. 

However, the comment never came. 

"You still look like a ten year-old to me, gap-mouth or not."

"You still look like an idiot."

"Wow. Nothing's changed at all."

Ace was right. Despite them being separated for ten years, that didn't seem to change a thing. They were still able to fire back to each other's witty comments without hesitation. The two were both well into their early adulthood, but now that they were reunited, the sparkle that would often show itself in their ten year-old eyes resurfaced. Their formula still worked as excellent as ever. This equation was almost completely solved; all they needed was the presence of a younger, louder, and certainly more rowdy kid. 

Sabo let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. Somehow, just by looking at Ace, he felt a weight being yanked off of his chest. Here he was, about to start a new chapter of his life alongside his best childhood friend. The strangling grasp that his hometown had on him dissolved in this new city's air. He subconsciously lifted a hand to his neck as if the hands of Goa were still lingering around it. 

"What're you looking all stupid for?" Ace asked, snapping Sabo away from his thoughts. The blond man awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling before he dropped his arm back to his side. 

"I was just thinking, y'know?"

"Thinking, eh?" Ace scratched his chin."Well, you can do more of your thinking inside. I don't know about you, but I don't really plan on being out here all night," he said and pulled out a key from his pocket. He then waved it in front of Sabo's face. 

"You're lucky I got here when I did, or else you'd be waiting out here for another two hours."

Sabo blinked in confusion as Ace shuffled past him to unlock the door. 

"Is Luffy not here?"

As the lock clicked, Ace looked back at Sabo and shook his head. "No, he's got work until, like, seven on Tuesday's." He turned the knob and pushed open the door. A stream of chilly air drifted out of the open door and settled on Sabo's face. 

"On Wednesday through Friday he gets off at four, and he's got the weekends off. He gets off at seven on Monday's, too. I tell ya, he's pretty lucky to be working where he is. Normally, pretentious chefs don't want a kid like Luffy wreaking havoc throughout their restaurant, but I guess since a good friend of his runs it..." Ace's voice became inaudible as he vanished into the dark apartment.

Sabo stared at the doorway. He couldn't bring himself to let his feet carry him inside while there were a million thoughts and questions flooding his mind. His heart's thumping became so loud that it completely filled his ears, dully thudding. He didn't realize how out of it he was until the lights inside flicked on and Ace's figure appeared in the doorway. 

"Are you coming in or what?" 

Sabo chuckled. His face began to heat up as he was once again caught off guard by Ace. 

"Yes, sorry. I was-"

"Thinking?" Ace asked. 

When Sabo didn't respond right away, Ace walked over to him and draped an arm over his shoulders. 

"Oh, Sabo, you were always the kind of kid that got lost in his own thoughts." 

Sabo opened his mouth to respond, but Ace beat him to it. 

"You were also the kind of kid that would never talk about what went on in his head, and by the looks of it, that trait is still the same." 

Ace removed his arm from Sabo's shoulders and instead, brought his hand to the blond's back. A forceful shove sent Sabo stumbling into the apartment. With a satisfied grin, Ace wiped his hands and entered the apartment, shutting the door behind him. 

"That was awfully rude of you," Sabo muttered and smoothed down his white button-up. "I could've smashed head-first into the floor and I would've been concussed."

Ace snorted. "And you were always the kind of kid to worry about dumb things." He stalked past Sabo and made his way behind a counter and into a small kitchen, immediately beginning to rummage through cabinets. 

Sabo stared at Ace, his mouth hanging slightly agape. 

_He's exactly the same. Maybe even more irritating this time around._

"Getting a concussion is not a dumb thing to worry about, jerk," Sabo retorted after a moment. 

"It's a dumb thing to worry about when there's no possibility of it happening!" Ace responded in a singsong voice. "You would've caught yourself regardless!" 

Sabo wanted so badly to fire back another response, but he concluded that he was too drained to keep this kind of exchange up. He watched as Ace pulled a large bag of potato chips from one of the cabinets and dumped some of the contents into his mouth. He found himself sighing as some chips missed Ace's mouth and dropped to the floor. 

Once Ace had decided he had a satisfying amount of chips, he rolled up the bag and tossed it back into the cabinet and walked over to Sabo, patting him on the shoulder. 

"Make yourself at home, because this is your home now, 'kay? I'm gonna turn on the TV or something. Any particular channel you prefer?"

Sabo glanced at the kitchen, raising a brow. Then, he brought his skeptical gaze upon the black-haired man. "Are you just gonna leave those chips on the floor?"

Ace stared blankly at Sabo. "Really, that's the first thing you worry about?" A laugh escaped his mouth. "Don't be silly, Sabs. Luffy'll eat them!"

Sabo furrowed his brows together and almost grimaced, but another laugh coming from Ace stopped him.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I forgot about those." Ace went back into the kitchen and disposed of the fallen chips. He then made his way back to Sabo.

"Damn, the look on your face was priceless. You genuinely thought Luffy and I lived like pigs, huh?" He once again gave Sabo's shoulder a solid pat before walking into the small living room, where he toppled onto a black couch. Sabo heard the sound of a TV turning on. 

Ace poked his head over the back of the couch. 

"I'm a dumbass, I forgot to ask if you wanted anything to eat, so, do you want anything to eat?"

Sabo waved his hand. "I'm all right. Thank you, though."

Ace nodded and his head disappeared. 

Sabo took this time to examine the apartment. It wasn't necessarily spotless, but it wasn't a pigpen either. There were articles of clothing draped over some of the furniture in the small living room. Heaven knows how long those have been there. 

He brought his wandering gaze back to the kitchen. He knew that if he were to find something disastrous, its origin would be in that very room. He strolled in and wasn't surprised when he found a pile of dishes crammed in the sink. On the contrary, he was surprised that the pile of dishes was the only flaw in the kitchen. 

As he stood in the small kitchen, he remembered Ace saying something about Luffy working in a restaurant. 

_Did Ace actually say Luffy worked in a restaurant? I wonder if Luffy cooks at home, then?_

Sabo stepped out into the small corridor. He made a reminder to ask Ace about Luffy's job later, but for now, he felt the urge to do some more subtle exploring of the small apartment. 

_Small._

There was really no other word to describe it. Saying the apartment was petite would be incorrect, however, saying it was an average size was a bit of an overstatement. Right upon entering, a visitor would be about halfway in the kitchen and ten steps away from the living room. Beyond the living room were three doors. Sabo assumed one of which was the bathroom, and the other two were Luffy and Ace's rooms. In short, it was snug. 

The knot in his stomach returned, causing Sabo to feel more unsettled than normal. After he had a stationary tour of the apartment, he began to believe that all he was going to be to Ace and Luffy was a burden. They've hardly any space for their rowdy selves, and the fact that a third person was now thrown into the mix would naturally make living in the apartment more difficult. 

Sabo had become so accustomed to being labeled as a burden. Back home, he was a burden because he couldn't make money quick enough. He was a burden because he wasn't following in his father's footsteps. He was a burden because he dared to try to go to the beat of his own drum. He was a burden because he could not, for the love of _God_ , be like his damned brother. 

Sabo clenched his fists at his sides and shook his head, trying to boot the thoughts out of his head. Unfortunately, it was hard to shake them off. 

_I should probably just tell Ace that I can stay in a hotel until I can find a decent place to rent. I haven't even brought any of my stuff yet, so it wouldn't necessarily be a problem to relocate at this point._

Sabo opened his mouth to say something, but yet again, Ace somehow beat him to it. His head of jet-black hair was already poking over the back of the couch again. A single eyebrow was cocked. 

"Why the hell are you being so weird?" Ace questioned. 

Sabo swore under his breath and shoved his hands in the pockets of his black pants. Ace was too good.

"Don't tell me you were 'thinking' again."

Sabo shrugged, earning a groan from Ace. 

"Dude, just come sit down and relax. It really looks like you need that." 

Without saying a word, Sabo walked over to the couch. Ace had moved over, giving Sabo an open spot. Sabo pulled his hands out of his pockets, silently sat down and immediately began to play with his fingers. Spongebob Squarepants' laugh emitted from the TV, completely not fazing Sabo. 

After a few moments of listening to everyone's favorite sea creatures, Sabo turned to Ace. 

"You want to know why I'm acting so weird?"

Ace looked at Sabo in return, a confused expression appearing on his face. 

"Huh?"

Sabo leaned forward, his voice quieting. "You wanted to know why I've just been acting all weird, right?" 

Ace blinked, then nodded. 

"Oh, yeah. Why's that?"

Sabo brought a hand up to his own blond locks and ran a few fingers through it. He felt bad for dumping his worries on Ace, but in the end, it was for the better. Ace had always been the kind of person to sense when things were off, and he was an advocate for helping friends with their problems. Something told him that Ace was still the same in that sense, and Sabo knew that this moment would mean a lot to Ace, especially because he never told his friend anything about his troubles when they were children. No matter how many times Ace demanded to know what was wrong, Sabo never budged. Now, he felt like he owed Ace his entire backstory, but Sabo, being the considerate person he was, didn't plan to dump everything on Ace just yet.

 _Baby steps,_ he thought. 

"I just...I'm sorry, I just really don't want to be a burden to you and Luffy. I know space is gonna be difficult, and I feel awful for just strolling on in here, but I was thinking that I could stay in a hotel for a few nights until I could find a place I could rent on my ow-"

"Sabo," Ace interrupted. 

"No, no, hear me out. I can visit and hang out with you two, but I just won't be living with you and everything. It's just the fact that it's been ten whole fucking years since I've even properly spoken to you--well, excluding the times we kinda spoke on the phone--and everything is weird here, and I-"

" _Sabo,_ " Ace interrupted again. 

Silence. 

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about it, okay? If you remember correctly, it was me and Luffy who offered to house you. If it was going to be a huge problem for us, we wouldn't have done it. Also, being separated ten years means nothing. We became brothers, and brothers stay brothers 'til the end of time."

Sabo stared at Ace, unsure what to say. 

"I'm really glad to have you here, Sabo. I'm really fuckin' glad you got that job over here. Dude, I'm so glad I'm able to just sit with you again." The freckled man draped his arm around Sabo's shoulders once again. He brought his other hand up and ruffled Sabo's already messy hair. 

Sabo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The words that came out of Ace's mouth held enough power to lift a chunk of weight off of his shoulders, and the phantom hands of Goa that lingered around his throat seemed to back off a little more. 

Finally, a laugh burst out of Sabo's mouth and tears began falling from his blue eyes. He knew damn well he looked like an idiot right now, but for some reason, he didn't care. 

_What am I, a wimp?_ Sabo asked himself. _This is pathetic._

Ace slid his arm off of Sabo's shoulders and tilted his head. He gave him a look, but it wasn't filled with pity. It was more of an "I feel you" look. 

"Stressful day, huh?" Ace asked. 

Sabo laughed again and wiped a tear from his eye. "You have no idea."

\---

The duo watched several episodes of _Spongebob Squarepants_ in silence, other than the occasional chuckle from Ace. The silence was in no means awkward, and Sabo was thankful for that. It was more of a healing silence. He felt like he was able to fully recover from whatever emotional wreck he endured not too long ago. He hoped Ace would forget about that. 

"You said Luffy worked at a restaurant?" Sabo broke the silence as he remembered Ace's words from earlier. 

"Mmhm. Don't get your hopes up, though. He's not a chef or anything."

"Gotcha."

Sabo pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the time. 

6:30. 

Luffy would hopefully arrive within the hour, and Sabo was already preparing himself for the positive chaos that would ultimately unfold upon Luffy's arrival. 

"So, if Luffy's not a chef or anything, are you the one who prepares meals and such here?" asked Sabo as he unlocked his phone and lazily scrolled through his emails. 

"No, actually. For the most part, we just live off of junk food and takeout. I can make a pretty wicked grilled cheese, though," Ace responded. Sabo chuckled. 

"All you do is eat unhealthy things and you look like _that?_ " Sabo said and lifted his eyes from his phone, gesturing to Ace. 

"Exercise exists, you idiot," Ace retorted. 

"Tch. Anyway, I'll have you know that I'm quite experienced with cooking, so now you don't have to life off of junk anymore," Sabo stated and smiled to himself. That's one factor he could be useful for. 

"Wow, I can't believe it. My own personal chef," Ace said sarcastically. His eyes were still glued to the actions of Spongebob and company. 

Sabo snorted. His phone buzzed in his hands, causing him to bring his attention back down to the small screen. His eyes narrowed. 

_From: Stelly_

_You didn't tell us you were living with those trashy kids from way back. Truly disappointing._

Sabo felt anger bubble up inside of him, but he knew this wasn't something to get too heated over. He decided that he'd keep this exchange short and sweet. 

_To: Stelly_

_Dearest brother, do feel free to remove your big fucking nose from my business. Cheers ! xx_

Sabo grinned to himself as he slid his phone back into his pocket. He knew damn well that Stelly was going to blabber about the message to his parents, but what good would that do? He was no longer their problem, no longer their burden. 

Suddenly, the apartment door swung open. Sabo barely had time to react before a body had tossed itself over the back of the couch, landing directly onto Ace and Sabo. 

"I can't believe it! The gang's all here!" Came the excited voice of Luffy. 

"Fuck, that hurt you dimwit," Ace's muffled voice came from under Luffy's leg. 

"Oh! Sorry, my bad!" Luffy scrambled into an acceptable sitting position, squashing himself right between Sabo and Ace. Ace was pressed against the arm of the sofa, looking quite uncomfortable. Sabo chuckled and brought his gaze to meet Luffy's. Shining brilliantly, the boy's award-winning smile practically covered his entire face. 

"Sabo!"

Luffy lurched towards Sabo and wrapped his arms tightly around him. 

"Man, I missed you so much! It's so good to see you!" Luffy exclaimed as he squeezed tighter. 

"Good...to see you too..." Sabo rasped. He didn't remember Luffy's hugs having the ability to kill people. 

"Luffy, damn, you're killing him," Ace stated from the opposite end of the couch. 

"Sorry!" 

The grip on Sabo immediately loosened. 

"I couldn't help myself. It's been so long and you look so different and _cool,_ " Luffy said as he examined Sabo up and down. "You look like you stay fresh all the time. I bet you use really pretentious shampoo or something."

"I use the same shampoo that everyone uses?" Sabo asked, unsure if that was even the right response. Leave it to Luffy for always bringing up things out of nowhere. 

"Ah, well. You look really fluffy, but, like, really edgy too, y'know?"

Sabo saw Ace raise a brow. 

"Luffy, what the _fuck_ -"

Luffy turned and covered Ace's mouth with his hand, preventing him from continuing his question. "Ace, listen. He's got real fluffy hair. That's the fluffy part. The edgy part is that scar on his eye. He's got the 'I'm a good guy but I can kill you' look." He turned his head back to look at Sabo, shooting him a smile. "It's so cool."

Ace swatted Luffy's hand away from his mouth. 

"What the ever-loving fuck did Sanji do to you today? You're spewing out such mindless shit."

"Sanji didn't do anything to me! That's just how Sabo looks now!"

"Fluffy and edgy? You're making him sound like some crazy devil bunny."

"Oh, that's a good one! I like that!"

"Ugh, shut up. Why the hell are you here early?"

"Sanji said I could go!"

"Did Sanji say you could go or did _you_ say you could go?"

As Ace and Luffy had their back-and-forth banter, Sabo felt the damaged skin around his eye prick with heat. He suddenly felt as if there was a large neon sign hovering over it saying "LOOK DIRECTLY AT THIS WOUND!". He knew that coming from Luffy, the boy genuinely thought that it was cool, but he couldn't help but begin to feel self-conscious. There was a reason that Ace didn't bring it up upon their reunion. It wasn't because he didn't see it, that's for sure. 

Sabo shook the insecurity off and brought himself to smile at the witty exchange happening between Ace and Luffy. Now that Luffy was back in the equation, everything about their relationship seemed untouched. They were just picking up the friendship right where they left off. 

\---

Ace smiled triumphantly as he set down a plate of his famous grilled cheese in front of Sabo. He didn't have to look twice to know that Sabo was frowning down at his plate. Ace had ignored the blond man's pleas to make dinner, after all. 

"Eat up. You'll never have a grilled cheese better than this," Ace said matter-of-factly, setting a plate down in front of Luffy. 

"Sanji c-"

"I don't care what the hell Sanji does. His grilled cheese ain't my grilled cheese, and that's the gospel truth."

"You're pretty confident with yourself," Sabo muttered. 

"Hey, I have every right to be. Eat that damn grilled cheese."

"What're you, my dad?"

"I'm the oldest."

"Uh, first of all, no. Second of all, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Shh, shh, shut up and eat before I actually give you a concussion."

"See, that's nothing dumb to worry about. You're actually going to hurt me."

Without warning, Ace whacked the used spatula on the surface of the counter that Luffy and Sabo were eating on. Sabo jumped at the sudden contact. 

"Luffy!" Ace pointed the spatula at his younger brother. "Who the hell told you it was okay to take Sabo's food?"

"Wha-?" Sabo glanced back down at his plate and found that it was completely clean, like nothing had ever touched it. Then, he looked at Luffy, completely astonished. 

"Dorry," Luffy apologized with a mouthful of grilled cheese. He swallowed the mouthful down and laughed sheepishly. "I was hungry."

"How did you even manage-oh, you know what? Never mind. I shouldn't even be surprised. You've always been a magician when it comes to food," Sabo chuckled.

"Damn straight," Luffy confirmed and wiped the back of his arm across his mouth. 

Sabo leaned forward and rested his chin in his palm. "Speaking of food, tell me about what your job entails, Luffy. I heard it's got to do with a restaurant." 

"Yeah! My good friend kinda runs the place, so he got me the job! I clean tables and all that. It's kinda boring, but sometimes I get rewarded with a free meal!"

"Oh? That must be nice."

"Yeah, it really is, 'cause Sanji's a really great cook."

"Do you have any other friends besides this Sanji guy?"

Ace huffed from behind the counter. "Luffy is literally the most popular guy in this entire city. He knows everybody."

"Oh, wow."

Luffy smiled and nodded, while Ace just shook his head. 

"It's sad when your younger brother is more popular than you'll ever be. Hey, Sabo, do you want another grilled cheese?"

"No, I'm fine. I should probably start bringing my stuff in anyway. Also, I really don't want to hear you say 'grilled cheese' again today." Sabo grinned and stood up from the stool he sat upon. "Oh, where do you want me to bring my stuff?"

Ace nodded to one of the doors by the living room. "Toss it all in my room."

"Your room?"

Ace nodded. "You can sleep in there. I don't use it much."

Sabo shook his head profusely. "Ace, there's no way I'm kicking you out of your own room."

"Like I said, I don't use it much. It's all yours. Besides, the couch it pretty comfy and I spend a lot of time there."

Sabo stared at Ace, mouth hanging slightly agape. "You don't use your bed much? What's that supposed to mean?"

Ace shrugged and dropped the skillet he used into the pile of dishes into the sink. "Take it how you want. Use my room. Please. You're gonna be a busy guy with your new job and everything, so you're gonna need all the comfortable rest you can get." He turned on the sink and let the water run over the skillet. Sabo decided not to push the subject any further. 

"Luffy, help Sabo bring some stuff in while I clean up a little, would you?" Ace asked. 

"Uh-huh!" Luffy hopped down from the stool and marched out the door.

In no time, they had brought all of Sabo's belongings in. By now, the time had reached 9:30, and the fatigue that Sabo had felt during his journey here had hit him at full force. Ten hours straight in a car wasn't an ideal way to spend a day. 

Sabo was prepared to crash, but not before he triple-checked with Ace about the rooming situation. As expected, Ace just shooed Sabo away. 

"Go to bed, idiot. You need to be fresh and ready to rumble tomorrow for your job, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sabo responded and yawned, "but I just really don't want you to sleep on the couch."

"I'm going to throw your ass into my room by force if you don't shut up." Ace grabbed Sabo's shoulders and turned him around so that he was facing the open door that lead to his room. "You either walk or I send you flying. Pick your mode of transportation."

Sabo groaned and trudged towards Ace's room. 

"Goodnight! Sleep tight!" Ace called after him. 

"Yeah, yeah." Sabo lazily waved a hand before he entered the room and shut the door. Immediately, he peeled off all of his clothes from the day and threw on a black t-shirt and flannel pants. He was about to collapse onto the bed, but a dull vibration from his discarded pants prevented him from doing so. 

"Ah, forgot that was in there," he mumbled and dug out his phone from the pockets of his pants. There were several text messages, and Sabo thanked whatever deity who watched over him that there was not a single message from anyone in his family. 

_From: Luffy_

_hey hey sabo_  
_goodnight!_  
_i'll see u in the morning!_  
_oh haha ace snores really loud im sorry if he keeps u up!!_

"He's only a room away." Sabo chuckled. "Idiot."

He finally collapsed onto the bed, phone in hand. He pulled up his email again, checking to see if any new information was given to him about his job. Nothing came up. 

Sabo yawned and set his phone down on the wooden nightstand next to the bed. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right then, but the thought of starting his job at Baltigo Enterprise kept his mind painfully active. This was a business that took things seriously, or so Sabo had heard from the Chief Communications Officer he had been in contact with for weeks. He was certainly going to be challenged, and he was thankful. He could finally put his best abilities on display. He was too far away from Goa to be considered a burden anymore. He was going to work his damn hardest and show all these new people what he can do. 

The thoughts of his job turned into thoughts of Ace and Luffy. He wanted to work his hardest for them, too. He lost them once, and he wasn't planning on losing his two best friends ever again. He frowned and brought his hand up to his face, gently tracing his scar with his index finger. The skin was still unbearably sensitive, as it always will be. The phantom hands of Goa could vanish, but the grim reminder of what the city did to him could never. Sabo shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. 

_Right. The plan. I'm not gonna be a damn burden._

Sabo's frown slowly turned into a smile. 

_I'm gonna work my ass off for my job and for my best friends._

His smile grew bigger. 

_My brothers._


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo woo chapter two   
> you kinda learn a bit more about what the HECK sabo went through but tbh youre still gonna be in the dark for a bit  
> i love koala   
> have a good read

To much of Sabo's dismay, he hardly got the amount of sleep he wished to get. He found himself trudging into the living room at five o'clock on the dot, his eyes stinging with fatigue. He expected to see Ace sprawled out on the couch, but the man was nowhere to be found. Sabo didn't think much of it; Ace probably had a job as well that required getting up at an ungodly hour. Sabo assumed that's what Ace meant when he said he didn't use his bed much. 

Sabo figured that he should tiptoe around out in this room to be considerate of Luffy, but a thud in the kitchen told him otherwise. He rubbed his eyes and continued his slow trek until he found the younger member of the household rummaging around in the fridge. 

"Luffy?" 

Luffy pulled away from the fridge, and the faint light coming from it revealed the cheerful grin on his face. 

"Hey, Sabo!"

"What're you doing up at this hour?" Sabo asked and slid onto one of the stools at the counter. 

Luffy shrugged and continued his search through the fridge. 

"Do you want me to at least make you real food?" Sabo asked another question and followed it up with a hefty yawn. 

"No, that's okay. I like to eat quick and simple things in the morning," Luffy responded as he pulled out what looked like an actual turkey leg from the fridge. Sabo rubbed his eyes again just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. 

"I'm sorry," Sabo chuckled, "but you think an entire turkey leg is quick and simple?"

Luffy nodded and shut the door of the fridge. Everything went dark until the overhead lights came on at the flip of a switch. Sabo watched as Luffy went to the sink and rummaged through the pile of dishes before he pulled out the cleanest one. He slid it to the spot next to Sabo, then placed the turkey leg upon it. 

Luffy's hair black hair was extremely disheveled, and Sabo wondered if he had a hard time with drifting off to sleep as well. It also appeared as Luffy's eyes were half-shut, and Sabo was impressed when Luffy made it around the corner and sat down without bumping into anything. The boy lazily picked up the turkey leg and absentmindedly began to bite into it. Sabo would've laughed at the sight of it, but he found himself too tired to do that. 

"Do you always get up for school at this hour?" Sabo asked. 

Luffy turned to look at Sabo, still chewing on the leg. Once he swallowed the mouthful he had, he set the leg down on the plate and folded his hands. 

"I don't go to school."

The revelation lingered in the air for a bit before Sabo decided to acknowledge it. 

"You don't?"

Luffy shook his head. "I dropped out the second I turned sixteen."

"Ah."

The two sat in a few more moments of silence. 

"Why's that?" Sabo asked. 

"I just didn't wanna waste years of my life doing something that won't affect what I wanna do in the future, y'know?" Luffy lifted the leg up to his mouth and took another bite. 

"Well, what do you want to do in the future?"

"I just wanna travel the world. I don't need an education for that," Luffy responded after he swallowed. 

At first, Sabo was a bit surprised that Luffy was a high school dropout. He was confused as to why someone would toss away the ability to expand their knowledge so quickly, but the more he thought about the situation, the more he admired Luffy. 

Unlike Sabo, Luffy had always been a free spirit. He had always made his own decisions as a child and refused to be tied down to anything. Once Luffy was set on something, there'd be no way to pry his motivation away from it. He had always known what was best for him, even if it seemed daft to everyone else, and Sabo concluded that dropping out of school was probably the best decision Luffy could've made for himself. It wasn't Sabo's problem to worry about, anyway.

"That's actually really admirable move, Luffy," Sabo complimented. Luffy tipped his messy head in response. 

"Is it? I've never heard that. People just think I'm an idiot for dropping out of school."

"Yeah, well, you had the guts to do something risky that ended up making you happy," Sabo said and studied Luffy's facial expression. The black-haired boy's head was now tilted downward towards his plate, and his brows were furrowed together, as if he was thinking hard about something. 

"You're happy, right?" Sabo asked. 

Luffy turned his attention back to Sabo, the corners of his mouth curving upwards. "Of course I am. Once I just make enough money from working with Sanji, I'll be free to go wherever I want."

Sabo felt a pang of jealousy pass through him in response to Luffy's words. Luffy was only seventeen, and he already knew what he wanted to do with his life. When Sabo was seventeen, he was still unsure of everything he was doing, still tied down to things he didn't even want to be part of. When Sabo was seventeen, he wasn't even allowed to think about dropping out of school. The idea of completing high school was pounded relentlessly into his brain by his parents. What his parents believed to be the right thing was the only right thing. Sabo had spent almost twenty full years living under that mindset, and as a twenty year-old now, he still wasn't even sure what he really wanted in life. He figured a lot of twenty year-old's felt the same, but it still bothered him. 

"Sabo, why are you up so early?" Luffy asked, breaking Sabo away from his thoughts. 

"I just couldn't sleep," Sabo responded. 

"Are you nervous to start your job today?"

"Hm. Not entirely. I guess I couldn't sleep because of everything I was thinking about. I'm starting a whole new life, after all."

Luffy pushed his plate away, which surprised Sabo, particularly because he didn't even finish the food. 

"Does it feel weird?" Luffy asked, turning his body to completely face Sabo. 

"Sorry?"

"Does it feel weird to start over?"

Sabo was slightly taken aback at the question. He wouldn't have ever expected for Luffy to initiate this kind of conversation, but then again, it had been ten full years. That was enough time to change a bit. 

Sabo shifted on the stool, trying to piece together a response that wouldn't sound too pathetic. 

"It does, but it's also refreshing." He sighed. 

"While I was separated from you two, all I did was work and work and work to earn the slightest bit of affection from my family. Now, I can finally work for my own satisfaction." Sabo leaned forward and rested his elbows on the counter, propping his head up in his palms. "It's funny. My family told me that I'd have to pay for my own education, but what'd they do? They paid for my brother's entire education. Not mine. He's younger than me." He laughed softly. "God, it took me twenty whole years to afford to leave Goa..." he trailed off as he realized that he had started to ramble. 

_Dammit, just what I didn't want to do._

He turned to see if Luffy followed his response at all. He almost groaned when he saw a bit of confusion in his eyes. 

"I didn't mean to ramble. Long story short, yeah, it's weird. I'm in a whole new place hundreds of miles away from home thanks to one job, and in the process, I end up reconnecting with my only friends. It's absolutely crazy."

Luffy began to laugh, which puzzled Sabo. 

"Man, you should've been here when Ace and I found out that you were coming here, to Raftel. We almost got kicked out of here because of noise complaints." Luffy pulled his plate back towards him and began gnawing on the leg once again. "We woubn't allow you to day in aby oder blace."

"Huh?"

"Dorry." Luffy set his food down. "We wouldn't allow you to stay in any other place. We were set on bringing you back to us." He looked down at his lap and for a split second, Sabo saw a sad smile form on his lips. 

"To be honest, we were also kinda scared to invite you to stay with us because we swore you forgot about us completely, or that you didn't ever wanna see us again."

Sabo's entire body felt cold and his heart froze only to begin a plummet to the bottom of his stomach. Before he could say anything, Luffy's foreign smile was replaced by his familiar one. 

"What time do you gotta head out?" 

"I-uh, eight. I have a few hours."

Luffy nodded and finished up his food. He pushed the plate in the sink in front of him and stood up, stretching. 

"I'm gonna go see if I can fall back asleep! If I'm not back up by the time you go, I hope you have a killer first day!" Once again, Luffy shot his famous smile at Sabo before shutting himself back in his room. 

The silence Sabo was left with was unbearable. Luffy's words repeated in his head, but nothing brought his mind to figure out why he said it. He had regularly spoken to the two of them via text message, but was that not enough for them? They knew he had kept in touch with them as best as he could. 

In addition to Luffy's words replaying in his mind, the boy's sad smile also presented itself way too many times. Something like that did not suit Luffy at all. It was unsettling. 

"What the hell?" Sabo breathed out. He ran his fingers through his already messy hair, trying to wrap his mind around the meaning behind what Luffy said. 

_I never forgot about them. I never stopped caring about them either. Did I do something wrong? Did they take something the wrong way?_

Sabo felt like he was about to explode as he tried to find answers. He felt tormented with guilt even though he had no knowledge of what he'd done. Then again, he could be overreacting, which he was no stranger to the concept of. 

He sat at the counter for fifteen minutes. No matter how many times he looked over his own memories, he could hardly fathom the reason why Luffy said what he did. It was almost like there was a chunk of his own life just missing; it felt like there was a void in his mind. 

Sabo had decided that he needed to give the heavy thinking a break. He stood up and made his way into the bathroom. Once he flipped on the lights, he was almost frightened by his own face. 

The color had drained from his face except for the pink scar tissue around his eye. The grotesque wound seemed to be glowing. He wanted to ignore it as much as possible, so he scanned the rest of his reflection to see if anything else was concerning. Aside from the ghostly countenance, there were small beads of sweat forming on his brow. 

"This is just a _marvelous_ start to your new life, isn't it, Sabo?" he asked himself as he turned the knob on the sink faucet. He stuck his finger in the stream of water and became satisfied with how cold it was. 

"You made yourself sick by _thinking_ too much. That's a new one. Ace would be proud," he mumbled and cupped his clammy hands underneath the water's flow. He leaned down and splashed the cold liquid on his face in hopes of miraculously healing. 

He let his face linger over the running sink a bit longer. Droplets slid down his nose and cheekbones and Sabo watched each one return to the sink with a petite splash. The cold water felt soothing, but it didn't shake the thoughts that had intruded in his mind. 

He lifted his head slightly to check his appearance, hoping to see at least some improvement. Thankfully, he was less ghostly, but the scar on his face still lit up as obnoxiously as a neon sign. If Sabo believed in omens, he would've considered this glowing scar to be one. 

He brought a hand up to the sensitive skin and ran a slim finger across its surface. The skin still felt as dead as it always did. Sabo wished the coldness of his hands would have at least helped with the constant internal burning he felt behind it, but it did nothing effective. Sighing, Sabo turned off the water and lifted up the bottom of his shirt to dry off his face. 

He reentered Ace's room and sat himself on the side of the bed. The faint glowing of his phone's screen caught his attention. He reached over to the nightstand and picked the phone up. Maybe scrolling through his notifications would help bring his mind back to a relaxed state. 

The time was now 5:30, and the only notification that was displayed on his lock screen was a text message from Ace. 

_From: Ace_

_hey fuckmother have a FABULOUS first day at work. i packed you a lunch like the good OLDER brother i am. idk when i'll be home so i'll see you when i see you peace out_

"That's one way to send someone off to work."

Sabo set his phone back down on the nightstand and then let his upper body fall back on the bed. He wasn't planning on leaving until 7:30, so he figured he could make an attempt to catch at least an hour and a half of sleep if his thoughts allowed it. 

\--

Sabo didn't realize he had actually fallen asleep until he heard the sound of boisterous laughter in the living room. He immediately shot up and reached for his phone. 

He let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw that the time was only 6:57. 

Sabo got up from the bed and dug through one of his duffel bags to find the clothes he was planning on making a great first impression in. He pulled out button-up after button-up, and by the time he pulled out the fourth, he came to the conclusion that he should maybe invest in a new wardrobe to go along with his new life. 

Tired of searching through essentially the same shirt, Sabo grabbed one of them and slid it on after he had discarded his pajama shirt. Before he put on his "I mean business" pants, he exited the room to see what the laughter was about. 

Luffy was rolling on the floor in front of the couch, where a stranger sat. The both of them were heaving with laughter. 

Sabo realized that an open button-up and flannel pajama pants weren't the best articles of clothing to meet someone new in, but before he could retreat back into the cover of Ace's room, Luffy brought the attention to him. 

"Sabo! You're up!" 

_Damn._

"I sure am," he responded, awkwardly glancing at the stranger on the couch. 

This guy seemed around the same age as Luffy, if not older. He had a plentiful head of black hair that was mostly tied behind his head in a large ponytail. Dark hairs grew at the bottom of his chin in what looked like the beginnings of a beard. Every physical trait he had seemed to compliment him well. 

Sabo wondered if he was also a high school dropout. 

"Anyway, this is Usopp! He's a good friend of mine," Luffy said and stood up from the floor, gesturing to Usopp. The new guy smiled and waved at Sabo. 

"It's cool to finally meet you. Luffy's told us a lot about you," Usopp said. 

"Ah, great. I sure hoped he told you about my grandiose sense of fashion," Sabo responded and gestured to himself. He was pleased when he heard Luffy's friend laugh. 

"But in all honesty, it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Normally I would love to sit down and get to know Luffy's friends, but I think I should fix this fashion disaster before I end up going to work like this." Sabo smiled quickly and retreated back to Ace's room, where he disposed of his baggy flannel pants and replaced them with a pair of khakis. He buttoned up and tucked his pastel blue button-up in and then made his way into the bathroom, where he spent ten minutes brushing his teeth and fixing his hair. 

Once he had finished, he went back into Ace's room, grabbed his deep brown dress shoes, and finally made his way back into the living room. This time around, it was Usopp who was on the floor laughing. 

"Wild morning, huh?" Sabo asked as he sat upon a stool from the kitchen and put his shoes on He found it amusing as he listened to Luffy try to put a sentence together through his laughs. 

"We-we were just-d-doing impressions of people w-we know!" Luffy answered. Usopp just laughed harder. 

"I'm guessing they were accurate if you both are laughing this hard?"

"Oh," Usopp loudly exhaled, "you have no idea."

When the two boys got the laughing out of their system, Luffy sat on his knees and looked at Sabo from over the back of the couch. 

"You look like whatever your job's employees are supposed to look like. Good job," Luffy congratulated. Sabo chuckled. 

"I should actually tell you what I'm gonna be doing, shouldn't I?"

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, that way I can actually determine if what you're wearing is what matches the stereotype."

"Hey, Luffy, don't stereotype. Uncool, dude," Usopp said from his position on the floor. He clicked his tongue several times to emphasize his fake disappointment. 

_These two are quite the harmonious duo_ , Sabo thought. 

"Shut up, Usopp. Tell me what you're gonna do, Sabo!"

"Do you ever read the newspaper?" Sabo asked. 

Luffy laughed. 

"Sabo, I can't even read."

Sabo stared at Luffy in shock, unsure of what to say. Revelations after revelations. 

"God, no, you broke him, Luffy!" Usopp turned towards Sabo. "He's kidding. I promise to God he's kidding."

Sabo let out a breath he had no idea he was holding. 

"Okay, you got me. I can read. I just don't read the newspaper, but I certainly do know what the newspaper is all about!" Luffy paused. "News and stuff." 

Usopp snorted and tossed one of the discarded articles of clothing of the living room at Luffy. 

"Excellent," Sabo confirmed. "Well, basically I'll be doing that stuff. The editor-in-chief saw my work and thought I was good enough to have a spot at Baltigo Enterprise: the home of Raftel Post."

"I don't know what any of that means, but that's cool. You look like a newspaper guy, that's all that matters," Luffy said with a dirty shirt draped over his head. 

"Precisely," Sabo agreed. "Luffy, do you know what time it is?"

"Time for you to-"

"Don't even say it," Usopp interrupted as he threw another article of clothing at Luffy. "It's 7:15, by the way."

"Shoot." Sabo stood up from the stool and once again entered Ace's room. He picked up his phone from the nightstand and proceeded to grab a bag holding his laptop. He was told he'd be provided with a company computer, but it was never a bad idea to bring backup technology. He slung the strap over his shoulder and walked out. He planned to leave at 7:30, but now he didn't want to risk anything. At this point, he didn't care if he was forty-five minutes early. First day jitters. 

"How bad is the traffic in the mornings?"

"Well, it's a Wednesday," Usopp responded. 

That was enough of an answer for Sabo. He felt around his pockets for his keys and groaned when he realized that he had to make yet another trip back into the other room. Once he grabbed his keys, he said quick goodbye's to Luffy and Usopp and went on his way.

\--

The traffic wasn't as bad as he expected, particularly because the business building wasn't even that far away from the apartment complex. Because the commute was shorter than he expected, Sabo was now twenty minutes early. He still briskly walked through the automatic doors of Baltigo Enterprise and approached the front desk. 

"Hello, um, Raftel Post?" 

The receptionist looked up at him with bored eyes. Then, she nodded towards the elevators off to the side. 

"Eighth floor. Are they expecting you?"

Sabo nodded. 

"Name?" 

"Sabo."

She turned her dull gaze to the computer in front of her, the screen reflecting off of the lenses of her glasses. She tapped a few keys on the keyboard, probably to make sure that Sabo was telling the truth. Then, she waved him off. "You're good to go."

Sabo thanked her for her time and walked to the elevator. He pressed the "up" button and waited in a silence that swelled with anxiousness. He really hoped to have a good start. 

The elevator took a longer time to get to him, but when it finally opened in front of him, he quickly stepped in and pressed the button for the third floor. The doors began to shut. 

"Ah, wait!" 

Sabo reacted in the nick of time, extending his arm so that the doors wouldn't shut all the way. A woman entered the elevator with him, out of breath. 

"Thank you. I kinda ran all the way. I hope I wasn't too much of a bother," she apologized. 

"No worries. What floor?"

She turned her head and examined the buttons. The doors slid shut with a dull thud. 

"Well, same floor as you, it looks like."

Sabo looked at her and was met with a cheerful smile. Her blue eyes were very lively at this hour of the morning. 

"Do you work for the Raftel Post?" Sabo asked. 

"Mmhm, sure do. What brings you to us today?"

"It's my first day on the job."

The woman clapped her hands together. "Really? You're Sabo?"

"I-yes," Sabo answered. He was surprised that she knew of him already. The thought of his name floating around the workplace before he even arrived unsettled him slightly; he prayed that positive words came with it. 

"This is so cool. Dragon's been talking about you a lot!"

Sabo felt his fingertips go cold at the mention of Dragon. An intimidating name to go with the just as an intimidating editor-in-chief. 

_Obviously he liked me enough to hire me, so why am I stressing out about it? I'm sure it was positive things._

"He thinks you're going to do well as a member of our team. No pressure," the woman said and extended her hand. "I'm Koala."

Sabo shook her hand and was surprised to find that such a strong grip came with her. It was almost bone-crushing. He didn't want to show any signs of pain in front of his new colleague, so he awkwardly laughed and tried to give the most genuine smile he could. He made a mental note to not get on her bad side. She seemed more than capable of knocking him out. 

Once Koala pulled her hand away, she snapped his fingers with realization. 

"Oh! Just a heads up, Dragon's gonna wanna have you get familiar with everybody in the office as soon as possible. He always leaves that duty to me, so once you finish your initial meet-and-greet with him, come find me, and I'll give you the backstage tour." 

"Ah, sounds like a plan," Sabo responded. 

_How long is this elevator ride? I'm gonna suffocate from the intimidation._

Koala seemed to notice his discomfort, because she was quick to acknowledge it. 

"There's no need to feel intimidated or overwhelmed. We're a group of people who love to have fun, but we also really get down to business when the time calls for it."

The elevator bell chimed and the doors slid open, filling Sabo's body with a refreshing breath of air. Koala smiled and stepped out of the elevator, her short strawberry blonde hair bouncing with each step. She turned around to face the elevator, now walking backwards. 

"If you don't get out of there soon, you're going up to floor ten, and trust me, you don't want to go to floor ten."

Sabo exited the elevator and took a look around his new workplace. Naturally, there were desks with computers everywhere, most of which were unoccupied. Quite a few people were walking throughout the office, greeting each other with paper and coffee in their hands. A few of them were very quick to greet Koala, and it seemed as if none of them had noticed Sabo yet, until Koala called him out by name. 

"Sabo! Stop standing around in a daze and follow me. I might as well just bring you to see Dragon now."

Multiple pairs of eyes brought their attention to Sabo. He heard murmuring and expected it to be the usual "there's a new person, let's talk about what we've heard about them and compare it to the actual person" talk. Sabo smiled shyly and half-waved to the people looking at him. 

"Oh, yeah. Everyone, this is Sabo. He's going to be working alongside us starting today, so be prepared when I bring him on the office tour. I might interview you for his sake," Koala announced. There were some groans and quiet expressions of excitement that came from the group of workers as a response. If Sabo hadn't already met her, he would have just assumed that she was the bureau chief instead. There was just something about her that made Sabo believe that everyone listened to her. 

"Sa-bo, let's go," she chirped. 

"Right, sorry," Sabo apologized and followed Koala to the back of the office. They were nearing another room, where all the walls were complete glass. At the desk inside, Sabo saw a man hunched over, talking into a phone. Only half of his body faced Sabo and Koala, but there was no mistaking the deep frown that was settled on his tan face. 

"He looks a bit busy," Sabo observed. "And frustrated."

"Eh, that's just his resting face," Koala responded nonchalantly. Sabo was almost horrified when she casually opened the door to the office and strolled in. She motioned for Sabo to join her which he did, timidly. The two of them stood quietly in front of his desk. 

"Yes. If Sakazuki has a problem, tell him he can come to me. We'll discuss this at a later time." The phone clicked as the man set it on the cradle. He lifted his gaze to Sabo. A strike of fear passed through the younger man as he held the older man's gaze. If looks could kill, Sabo decided that he would have already dropped dead. 

He had a tattoo on the left side of his face which started at the top of his head and ended at the curve of his jawline. Black stubble grew from his chin to match his slicked-back, shoulder-length hair. His frown was still prominent. 

Racked with nerves, Sabo acted upon an impulse. He extended his hand. 

"Hello sir, I'm Sabo."

Dragon eyed Sabo's extended hand, then dragged his gaze back up to meet Sabo's eyes. Sabo could see that the very corners of his mouth were turned slightly upwards.

"Sabo," Dragon echoed. 

"Yes, sir," Sabo responded, unsure if that was meant to be responded to. 

In no time, Sabo found his hand at the mercy of another bone-breaking handshake. If he had to shake more hands later, he'd have to kiss this job goodbye. He would be no use to write stories quickly and efficiently with one hand. 

"Good to have you here, son. I'm Dragon." He nodded to the unoccupied seat in front of him. "Take a seat and I'll go over what I expect from you."

Sabo sat down quickly, putting his laptop bag aside and folding his hands over his lap. 

"Koala, go make sure folks start being productive now. They need to lay off their coffee mingling time. I know it's not exactly eight o'clock yet, but the sooner they get to work, the sooner they can go."

"Roger that." Koala exited the room. Dragon brought his dark eyes back to Sabo. 

"The rules here are simple, Sabo," Dragon began, "always go the extra mile with your work and do as you're told."

"Yes, sir."

Dragon leaned forward in his chair, getting a better look at the blond man sitting before him. 

"Do you participate in violent activities?" 

The question completely threw Sabo off. 

_What?_

"No?" Sabo responded, sounding more insincere than he hoped. He cleared his throat. "No. No, I don't, sir."

"I'm pulling your leg. That scar on your eye is gonna make people think you're not a force to be reckoned with, which is good once you get out on the field. A good intimidation method that'll get people to spew information."

Sabo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 

_What a weird man. Right off the bat, he's telling me my scar is scary? Fantastic._

"No need to feel like less of a person, kid. Scars aren't a bad thing. We all got 'em. Though sometimes some people have bigger ones than others."

_What a truly weird man._

Dragon leaned back in his seat. "Ah, speaking of scars, I have one more small rule so that you don't get more. Be safe when you're out and about. I don't want any of my people getting hurt out on the scene."

"That's reasonable," Sabo said. 

"Glad we're on the same page," Dragon commented. The black-haired man pushed his chair back and opened one of his desk drawers. He rummaged through a few stacks of papers before he pulled out a black folder labeled "Outlook". Sabo's surname. 

"I've held onto your portfolio since you've sent it to us. You're a skilled writer. I can imagine that you always exceeded on research papers."

Sabo shrugged. "I guess so. I was always a fan of writing pieces related to current events. I never really intended to do this as a living, honestly. It started out as a casual interest, you could say."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to stick with it, Sabo. Your skills are going to bring the paper up to higher levels." Dragon placed the portfolio on the desk. "As for now, I'm going to have you start off as a reporter. Go out to places, gather information, write a story. Simple. However, I'm going to have you tag along with Koala for a few days so you can observe and be exposed to how the job's really done."

"Koala's a reporter?"

Dragon nodded, now grinning. Sabo had just met the man, but he could already tell that a grin didn't completely suit a face like his. 

"She's one of the best we have for the Post. She's highly respected."

_Ah, that's the vibe I was getting._

"Sounds good, sir. Is she headed out anywhere today?"

"No, she's finishing up a story today. Tomorrow you'll head out with her. Now," Dragon stood up, "I want you to get familiar with everybody. We're a tight-knit unit, and no one's to be excluded here."

"Is it time for the tour?" Koala's voice came from the door. Sabo turned in his seat and saw her head poking in from the doorway. She seemed to be waiting for this moment. 

"It is. If you have any questions, Sabo, come to me."

Sabo stood up and bowed his head. "Thank you, sir. I'll keep that in mind."

"Call me Dragon."

"Yes, si-Dragon, sir."

Dragon chuckled and before Sabo knew it, his back was shoved into his arms as he was being pulled out of the room by Koala. 

"How was that?" She asked. 

"Interesting. He's interesting," Sabo answered and looked back at Dragon's office. He was now sitting at his desk again, picking up the phone. The frown had returned. 

"That's Dragon for you. Now keep up, I'm about to do a rapid-fire introduction to everyone."

The entire experience was a blur. He had met way too many people in such a short amount of time. There was no way he was going to have everyone's names memorized by the time he walked in tomorrow, but there were a few individuals that stood out to him. 

There was Nico Robin, the stoic section editor who apparently loved to crack morbid jokes. Thankfully, she didn't unleash any on Sabo. She greeted him with a polite smile. After Robin came the eccentric and colorful Ivankov, who completely engulfed Sabo in a tight embrace. Ivankov was in charge of graphics for the most part, which made sense when it came to a person this lively.

Batholomew Kuma was the next person that Sabo would clearly remember. He was a giant, but the voice that came with him did not quite match. He spoke slowly and smoothly, which was almost soothing to Sabo. Kuma was a member of the library for the paper, so Sabo made sure to come to him when he needed extra information on certain subject. 

The last person Sabo remembered was Hack. He was a cheerful guy all around, and Sabo was thankful when he learned that Hack was also a reporter. Hack had been a karate instructor before he got the job at Raftel Post. He was another person that Sabo had to remind himself to not get on the bad side of. 

Once Koala made he rounds through the office, she took Sabo to an unoccupied desk and patted its surface. 

"This is yours. Make yourself at home. If you've got a sweetheart or something, put their picture up. Zazz up your workspace."

"Thank you," Sabo said and slid his laptop bag off of his shoulder. He placed it on the floor next to his chair as he learned that he didn't have a need for it at this time. He pulled out the chair and sat in it, surprised at how comfy it actually was. 

"Comfy? Cool." Koala placed a piece of paper in front of him. "This is a list of the software that should already be downloaded on that computer. If you find any of them missing, let me know. I'll be across the office if you need me." She gave Sabo a quick pat on the shoulder before walking away. 

\--

_What a lively bunch they were_ , Sabo thought as he climbed up the stairs to apartment one thousand. 

"I thought tattoos were deemed unprofessional in any workplace," he thought aloud. "Yet the man in charge of us has one on his _face_."

He made his way to the door and knocked a few times. Obtaining a key for the apartment would be the next thing on his list. 

"And the purple hair on Ivankov? That's impressive," He said and chuckled to himself as he continued to wait on someone to answer the door. 

The door then flew open, revealing a shirtless Ace. 

"Sabo!" He threw his hands up. "You're back!"

"I am," Sabo responded and entered the apartment. He almost walked right back out when he smelled grilled cheese. 

"How was work? Did you like my message?"

"It was great. I loved your message."

"Yeah, well, if you loved the message, then why didn't you take the lunch with you? I poured my heart and soul into that, you bitch."

"Sorry. I was in a 'first day of work' panic," Sabo apologized and made his way to the couch, where he plopped right down. 

"Fine, I'll forgive you," Ace said and shut the door. "But only this once. Now tell me about your day."

"The people are interesting. The editor-in-chief has a giant tattoo on his face."

"The who? Speak English, Sabo. I don't even know where you actually work, either."

"Ah," Sabo kicked his shoes off, "I work for the newspaper now. An editor-in-chief is-"

" _What?_ "

"What?"

"The _newspaper?_ " 

Sabo turned and shot Ace a confused look. "What are you on about?"

"You work for the most boring thing the world has to offer?"

Sabo blinked. "If you want to put it like that, then sure."

Ace made his way behind the kitchen counter and picked up his masterpiece, taking a large bite into it. He shook his head and swallowed. 

"What the hell made you wanna do that? Did you just pick up the newspaper as a child and go, 'Wow, I'm so down with being exposed to dull shit like this, I wanna write dull shit too'?"

"Uh, no, that's not how it went down," Sabo answered. 

"Fuckin' nerd," Ace said and took another mouthful. 

Sabo waved off his comment and searched for the TV remote. Once he found it, he turned the technology on and mindlessly flipped through the channels.

"Luffy'll be back in about an hour and a half, so if you wanna hold up on eating until he comes back, that's cool," Ace said from the kitchen. 

"I don't want the grilled nightmare."

"You can't even say that until you've actually eaten it!" Ace whined. 

"I'm okay. I'll keep passing on it."

"Bastard."

Sabo ignored the curse and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. Like always, he didn't really have a lot of notifications to look at. He was about to put his phone away when a call came through. His father's name was displayed. 

"Shit," Sabo swore and stood up from the couch. Ace eyed him curiously as he walked out of the apartment to take the call. 

"Sabo? Good, you're on the line," came his father's voice. 

"Why are you calling me?" Sabo asked with hostility. 

"I just wanted to express my concerns for you, my son. You see, Stelly informed us that you are actually staying with those two brats you interacted with years ago."

"Okay?"

"They're unsafe, Sabo. Remember? _There's a reason why they left_."

Sabo felt his entire body heat up. 

"Look, I don't know why you're so obsessed with what I'm doing with my life. I moved out, I'm gone, I'm not coming back to see your faces ever again. What I do with my life has no influence on you. Any final words before we part for good?"

"Leave those tw-"

Sabo ended the call and proceeded to block his father's number. 

His legs felt weak, and he found himself stumbling backwards until he was leaning against the wall. He knew he was about to get sick again with all the new thoughts pouring into his head. First, Luffy made it sound like Sabo did something wrong, but his father had it the other way around. Sabo knew Luffy's word was more trusted than his father's, but there was something about what his father said that made him spiral into an endless pit of confusion. The void in his mind seemed to grow bigger, sucking up more and more information that Sabo could've pulled from his past. 

"What the _fuck_ ," he breathed out, "is going on?"

He raked his fingers through his blond hair. Someone was dumping lies into his head, while the other was pulling the truth. Why was it so hard to recall what had happened in the past? Why was it that the one event he couldn't remember for the life of him was the one being discussed most frequently? 

He slid down the wall until he sat down completely. He felt like he was going to faint. The confusion was strangling him. 

_I'm overthinking. That's all I do. I need to calm down._

The door opened and Ace looked down at Sabo. 

"Sabo."

Sabo looked at Ace, and he could tell the freckled man was concerned. He wasn't prepared to deal with Ace's interrogation. 

"You need a damn nap or something, man," Ace said.

The interrogation hadn't happened. Sabo silently thanked Ace. 

"Yeah. Probably." Sabo stood up and reentered the apartment. 

"Are you wearing the same thing you wore yesterday?" Ace asked in an attempt to divert Sabo's mind away from the bad place it clearly was in. 

Sabo stopped walking and turned. "No?"

"You literally had, like, the same shirt on yesterday."

Sabo looked down at his shirt. 

"I have a lot of these shirts."

Ace snorted. "Nerd shirts?"

Sabo glared at Ace, but it was playful. Ace was glad, but he hated how Sabo still hid all of his problems and acted like nothing happened. 

" _Nice_ shirts. You wouldn't know."

Ace held up his hands in defense. "Whoa, okay, no need to go after my life like that. Are those shirts literally the only shirts you own?"

"Yes?"

"Sabo!" Ace walked over to him and placed both of his hands firmly on his shoulders. "That's dumb!"

"It's not. It's good to look presentable."

"Yeah, but not every day!" Ace looked in the direction of his room. "I'm going to rummage through all of your clothes." He dropped his hands from Sabo's shoulders and ran into his room. Sabo didn't bother following him. 

"Sabo!" Came Ace's disappointed voice. "You literally have twelve of the same outfit!" 

"I do not," Sabo called back. 

Ace left his room and walked back over to Sabo. 

"We're buying you new clothes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You need new clothes."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do. What're you gonna wear when you go clubbing? Nerd clothes?"

"I don't plan on ever going clubbing."

" _Sabo!_ "

"What?"

Ace grabbed Sabo's arm and pulled him to the living room. He sat him on the couch and stood in front of him with his arms crossed over his bare chest. 

"You've never been clubbing?"

"No."

"Have you ever consumed alcohol?"

"No. Ace, why-"

"Zip! Have you ever toilet papered someone's house?"

"No, that's mean."

"Oh, my god. Sabo." Ace groaned and slapped his hand over his own forehead. "You're killing me." 

Sabo stared at Ace with an disinterested look. He was always the drama queen. 

"If you're gonna live a new life, you're gonna _live_ your new life." Ace walked around the back of the couch and leaned over next to Sabo's head. "I'm gonna make a list of the things that you should do so you don't stay a nerd for the rest of your life. Think of it as a bucket list, if you will."

Ace being in charge of Sabo's bucket list?

"That's a horrible decision," Sabo answered the question aloud. 

"You don't have any room to talk. Starting tomorrow, you're gonna check some of the shit I write on the list off." 

"I have work, you know."

Ace ruffled Sabo's hair. 

"I don't care, you know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know luffy and usopp are the ages that they were before the time-skip but i particularly wanted usopp to have his post time-skip look bc honestly it's iconic.   
> dragon is the best dad out there. what a guy.   
> i still love koala  
> OHOHOHOHO *Oprah gif* So What Is The Truth   
> poor sabo needs a break and he's only just gotten started with his life  
> you know it's about to get wild when ace offers to put together a bucket list   
> next chapter the information is just gonna keep coming. PLUS a sabo and koala adventure! woo hope you guys are likin this

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that happened.  
> Fear not, you're gonna learn more about Sabo soon so that you know what his whole deal is. I just felt like starting this whole thing off right with the reunion.  
> Just for reference, Ace is 20, Sabo is 20, and Luffy is 17.  
> WOO hope y'all liked it!


End file.
